Harrison supported himself in business for some years before deciding
to switch to a science career. He progressed rapidly, taking a degree
with honors at Sydney and then another at Cambridge before joining the
war effort as an advisory entomologist to forces in the Middle East, where
he did research on ectoparasitic insects. After the war he returned to
Sydney, where within four years he had an endowed chair, and was becoming
involved in a variety of zoological problems. In the short time he was
active before his early death he became known internationally for two
lines of research: (1) the use of parasite taxonomy in establishing the
phyletic relationships of their hosts, and (2) support for Wegener's ideas
on continental drift especially as these suggested explanations for faunal
commonalities among the southern continents invoking an Antarctic dispersal
route. Harrison's early death was connected to diseases he contracted
during his war service.

Life Chronology

--born in Wellington, New South Wales, on 13 July 1880.
--1911: enters University of Sydney
--1911: reads a paper entitled "The Taxonomic Value of Certain Parasites"
before the Science Society
--1913: B.Sc., University of Sydney
--1916: B.A., Emmanuel College, Cambridge University
--1916: made advistory entomologist to the Mesopotamian Expeditionary
Force, eventually rising to the rank of captain
--1918: made lecturer in zoology, University of Sydney
--1920: made acting professor of zoology, University of Sydney
--1920-1923: honorary editor of Australian Zoologist
--1922: obtains the Challis chair, University of Sydney
--1923-1924: president, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales
--1923-1928: head of the zoology department, University of Sydney
--1926: president of Section D, Australasian Association for the Advancement
of Science, Perth
--1927: president, Linnean Society of New South Wales
--1928: publishes "The Composition and Origins of the Australian Fauna,
With Special Reference to the Wegener Hypothesis" in the eighteenth Report
of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science
--1928: publishes "Host and Parasite" in the Proceedings of the Linnean
Society of New South Wales
--dies on 20 February 1928.